Observations of Xyleborus affinis Eichhoff (Coleoptera:Curculionidae:Scolytinae) in Central Michigan

Xyleborus affinis Eichhoff colonized wind thrown timber in the moist floodplain habitats of Central Michigan. Single adult females constructed a complex gallery system consisting of phloem–sapwood interface tunnels and sapwood tunnels. An average of 24 progeny adults and a sex ratio of 14 females to 1 male were found in mature galleries after the first of September

Observations of the Gallery Habits of \u3ci\u3eTrypodendron Retusum\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) Infesting Aspen in Central Michigan

A monogamous pair of adult Trypodendron retusum construct a gallery system consisting of an entrance tunnel and from two to five lateral tunnels into the sapwood of aspen. Inoculation of the mutualistic fungus Ambrosiella ferruginea by the female beetle, was followed by oviposition in shallow egg cradles. Two instars were observed as the larvae enlarged their cradles. The number of cradles per gallery system was correlated to the length of the gallery system. Progeny adults with a sex ratio of approximately 1:1 emerged from late June to early August to overwinter in the litter

Gallery Characteristics and Life History of the Ambrosia Beetle Trypodendron betulae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in Birch

Trypodendron betulae Swaine distributed attack entrance holes uniformly over the surface of standing stressed sub-canopy birch trees. Male and female pairs constructed galleries consisting of an entrance tunnel about 20 mm in length and then primary and secondary lateral tunnels averaging between 16 and 23 mm in length into the sapwood. Egg niches were constructed in the lateral tunnels after the symbiotic fungus was established in the galleries. Larvae enlarged the niches into cradles. Pupae and eventually teneral adults developed in the cradles. The sex ratio of resulting progeny adults was approximately one to one, and they emerged from galleries in September to overwinter in the litter

Seasonal Patterns of Flight and Attack of Maple Saplings by the Ambrosia Beetle \u3ci\u3eCorthylus Punctatissimus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in Central Michigan

Window traps with ethanol were used to observe seasonal flight patterns of Corthylus punctatissimus in central Michigan. Flights peaked in early July with a second peak seven weeks later in late August. Similarly, wilting of attacked maple (Acer) saplings began to appear a week after initial Corthylus flights, and showed twopeaks, one in mid-July and again with another peak, seven weeks later, in early September. The second peak of activity is presumably from reemerged adults, and not a second generation

Distribution and Host Plants of \u3ci\u3eCorthylus Punctatissimus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan

(excerpt) The pitted ambrosia beetle. Corthylus punctatissimus Zimmerman, infests woody saplings and shrubs 14 mm in diameter or less. The beetle bores an entrance hole into the main stem at soil level and constructs a main gallery tunnel which generally spirals downward in the stem. Egg-niche construction is followed by inoculation of symbiotic fungi and oviposition. The main stem of the host tree wilts as a result of the girdling activity of the beetle. Finnegan (1967) described the life history of C. punctatissimus infesting Acer saccharum Marshall in Ontario and Quebec

Observations of the Habits of \u3ci\u3eCorthylus Punctatissimus\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) Infesting Maple Saplings in Central Michigan

Corthylus punctatissimus, the pitted ambrosia beetle, infested and killed maple saplings that were 3-12 years of age with a basal diameter of 4-14 mm. The habits of the parental pair of adults are described. The beetles construct a spiral gallery system with about five egg niches per host. Half the brood reaches adult stage during the summer with a sex ratio of 1:1. No relationship was found between the number of niches, length of gallery system, or diameter of stem

Biology of symbiotic fungi associated with Ambrosia beetles of western United States

Eight primary ambrosia fungi, Raffaelea canadensis, R. sulcati, Ambrosiella brunnea, A. ferruginea, A. gnathotrichi, A. hartigii, A. sulcati, and A. sulphurea (Fungi Imperfecti), were found in association with 11 ambrosia beetle species (Scolytidae and Platypodidae). The fungi are reported from new beetle symbionts, new tree hosts, and/or increased geographical distribution. The ambrosia fungi are described using morphological, ecological, and physiological criteria. A taxonomic key is presented. The species placed in Ambrosiella have two modes of conidiogenesis and separation into two taxa is suggested. Isolations from the mycangia yielded ambrosia fungi most readily from flying and gallery-excavating beetles. The ambrosia fungi can best be isolated from galleries in the presence of active-feeding beetles. Five of the ambrosia fungi do not require vitamins for growth. All eight fungi utilize many types of nitrogenous compounds. Filamentous, yeast-like, and/or conidial cells of the ambrosia fungi were observed in vivo and in vitro. Changes in morphology of ambrosia fungi are nutritionally-dependent and influenced by pH

Observations of the Mating habits and Attack Pattern of Trypodendron retusum (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) on Populus grandidentata in Central Michigan

Trypodendron retusum Leconte attack pattern on Populus grandidentata Michx. (Big Tooth Aspen) was studied. Mating habits of males and females involved copulation at the entrance hole bored by the female. Attack (entrance )holes averaged 15.9 cm. apart and were found to be uniformly spaced on the bark surface. Attack density was greater on standing trees than wind-thrown trees. On standing trees attack density appeared to be a function of the height rather than the diameter of the tree

Nominalization and Alternations in Biomedical Language

Background: This paper presents data on alternations in the argument structure of common domain-specific verbs and their associated verbal nominalizations in the PennBioIE corpus. Alternation is the term in theoretical linguistics for variations in the surface syntactic form of verbs, e.g. the different forms of stimulate in FSH stimulates follicular development and follicular development is stimulated by FSH. The data is used to assess the implications of alternations for biomedical text mining systems and to test the fit of the sublanguage model to biomedical texts. Methodology/Principal Findings: We examined 1,872 tokens of the ten most common domain-specific verbs or their zerorelated nouns in the PennBioIE corpus and labelled them for the presence or absence of three alternations. We then annotated the arguments of 746 tokens of the nominalizations related to these verbs and counted alternations related to the presence or absence of arguments and to the syntactic position of non-absent arguments. We found that alternations are quite common both for verbs and for nominalizations. We also found a previously undescribed alternation involving an adjectival present participle. Conclusions/Significance: We found that even in this semantically restricted domain, alternations are quite common, and alternations involving nominalizations are exceptionally diverse. Nonetheless, the sublanguage model applies to biomedica

A MHz X-ray diffraction set-up for dynamic compression experiments in the diamond anvil cell

An experimental platform for dynamic diamond anvil cell (dDAC) research has been developed at the High Energy Density (HED) Instrument at the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (European XFEL). Advantage was taken of the high repetition rate of the European XFEL (up to 4.5 MHz) to collect pulse-resolved MHz X-ray diffraction data from samples as they are dynamically compressed at intermediate strain rates (≤103 s−1), where up to 352 diffraction images can be collected from a single pulse train. The set-up employs piezo-driven dDACs capable of compressing samples in ≥340 µs, compatible with the maximum length of the pulse train (550 µs). Results from rapid compression experiments on a wide range of sample systems with different X-ray scattering powers are presented. A maximum compression rate of 87 TPa s−1 was observed during the fast compression of Au, while a strain rate of ∼1100 s−1 was achieved during the rapid compression of N2 at 23 TPa s−1